INTERACTIONS OF TITANIUM DIOXIDE WITH THE PERI-IMPLANT MICROBIOME, AN ANALYSIS OF MOLECULAR MECHANISMS - USING IN SILICO VALIDATION TOOLS

Abstract

Background: Titanium dioxide on the implant surface and/or in the peri-implant tissue might have an influence on the local microflora, the aim of the present study is to understand the molecular mechanisms involved in the interactions between titanium dioxide and peri implant microflora  that could lead to the better understanding of peri implantitis.

Objectives:  To understand the interactions between titanium oxide and peri-implant microbiome and its influence on peri implantitis.

Methods: the microbes for the present in-vitro observational study were obtained by screening available literature about peri-implant pathogens, the Search Tool for Chemical Interactions (STITCH v5) was used to study titania protein interactions; VirulentPred, VICMpred tools were used to obtain the virulence potential and functional class of the proteins, following which subcellular localization of the virulent protein and epitope prediction done using the tools GNeg-mPLoc and BepiPred v2.0.

Results: Titanium dioxide was found to interact with proteins involved in cellular process, metabolism, and interestingly virulence proteins were also targeted, on further analysis most of these factors were localised to be present in the cytoplasm of the pathogen and finally epitope prediction revealed multiple epitopes in the virulent proteins, these predictions indicate the potential inhibitory effect of titanium dioxide of peri-implant pathogen and specific epitope that can act as a target for future drugs in management of peri-implantitis.

Conclusion: From the entire in silico assessment of the interaction between titanium oxide and virulent proteins revealed that titania has the propensity to modify the peri implant microflora, and this potential of this metallic element should be explored further for clinical management of peri implantitis.